Christ in Your Christmas
Over the last ten or fifteen years, various Christian lobbying and activist groups have been notifying me of the reality that many companies are “taking Christ out of Christmas.” So with great enthusiasm, I filled out petitions to various stores in order to encourage them to “keep Christ in Christmas.” After all, what is Christmas without a hearty, “Merry Christmas?”
The dull, placid remark, “Happy Holidays,” holds about as much cheer as “Grandma got run over by a reindeer.” And the thin veneer hung over the commercialization of Christmas and other associated holidays has become ever more sheer, so much so that I’m afraid my 5-year-old son is about ready to notice the proverbial emperor is no longer wearing any clothes. All sincere meaning seems gone…
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Love in Design
Amid the convoluted messages about sexuality and marriage across the news networks and social media feeds, it’s easy to wonder if there is any solution or resolution for the conversation. Has God provided a clear, navigable pattern to follow?
Do you wonder how Jesus Christ would respond to questions like:
“Can I sleep with my girlfriend, just so long as she doesn’t get pregnant?”
“Is marriage really only between one man and one woman for life?”
“Isn’t lust and porn okay as long as nobody gets hurt?”
“If someone has same-sex attraction, does that mean they’ve been made that way by God? Does God think it’s okay?”
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Conspiracy, Fear, and God’s Sovereignty
“They are secretly taking over!”
“I think there is a hidden plan to outlaw Christianity…”
“The communists are leading the media to brainwash our populace!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some behind-the-scenes group of wealthy leaders behind these wars in the middle east… and they are all cashing in.”
If your environment is anything like mine, I would guess you’ve heard alarming statements like these more times than you can count. Conspiracy theories all of kinds seem to increasingly abound… Yet Jesus and His followers faced the ultimate human conspiracy of all time: Kill Jesus Christ. And in the face of this conspiracy what did God want the followers of Jesus to know… and hope in?
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Our Family Fight
Family fights run in my family tree. Yes, you heard that right. A schism runs in the veins of my family line.
Long, long ago… the fabled story is told, but tis’ true, the Brezina clan arrived in northern Michigan from the faraway province of Bohemia (now part of the present day Czech Republic).
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Always Forgiven
The air was bone-chillingly cold and the wind might have bitten right through your knit hat, if you had stepped outside. The winter season had stretched long and dark across West Michigan and Stephanie and I were beginning to sense the cabin fever syndrome setting in around our little bungalow….
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Cancerous Christianity
Cancer. That one, singular word cuts into the fabric of our lives with fear and anxiety, doesn’t it? Every person knows someone who has battled against cancer – perhaps you know one who is in the middle of the fight right now. This lethal, fearsome disease is waging war against their body, seeking to wrack their frame with total destruction.
